There are commercially available still cameras which use information from a scene in order to improve the quality of the image of the scene which is selected and recorded. For example, there are existing still cameras which respond to light conditions from the scene by adjusting the exposure settings so as to optimize the quality of the color and contrast in the images which are recorded. As another example, there are existing still cameras which respond to light from a scene by selectively energizing a flash or other light in order to reduce the effect of “red eye” in recorded images of human subjects in the scene. These types of techniques may be used in either a traditional still camera, which records images on film, or in a digital still camera, which records a digital image in some form of electronic storage device.
While these prior techniques have been generally adequate for their intended purposes, they have not been satisfactory in all respects. In particular, even when these cameras are using these known techniques in an effective manner, they can still take images which are of poor quality in some respects, particularly when the recorded image includes one or more humans. For example, it is very common for a human to blink just as a picture is taken, causing the resulting image to be undesirable. As another example, a picture may be taken at a point in time when one of the human subjects is talking, and thus has his or her mouth in an unattractive open position. As a further example, at the point in time when an image is recorded, a person in the image may be turning his or her head, so that it is not facing substantially directly toward the camera.
Frequently, the person operating the camera does not become aware of problems of this type until much later, for example when the film is developed, or when a digital image is downloaded to a computer for viewing. When it is finally discovered that the image is of poor quality, for example because a human subject has blinked, the opportunity to take a further picture of improved quality has usually been lost.